Colored Youth in Boston Schools

December 13, 1861

At a recent meeting of the School Committee, Charles W. Slack, who had submitted the report and bill by which “separate schools” had been abolished six years ago, comments on the progress of students of color. “Within this period, a new generation of colored youth has risen to receive the great boon of impartial school education….”

Municipal Election

November 29, 1861

The present Mayor, Joseph M. Wightman, is a candidate for re-election.  He is characterized here as “pro-slavery in spirit and purpose, and demoralized and vulgar in character.”  He gave loose “reign to such a devilish mob as beset the Tremont Temple and Music Hall, when free speech was struck down in Boston ….”   All are urged to vote against him.

Equal Rights Petition

November 22, 1861

William Cooper Nell writes to Garrison, and encloses a petition, to the General Court of Massachusetts, printed here. The petition calls for the legislature to strike the word “white” “from the statute laws of this Commonwealth.”

Funeral of Francis Jackson, Esq.

November 22, 1861

The account of the funeral includes words from Samuel May, Jr., Garrison, Phillips, a letter from L. Maria Child, and appropriate resolutions.

Letter from Gerrit Smith

November 15, 1861

A speech, delivered by Smith, at Rev. Dr. Cheever’s church, in New York, fills over two columns here.  The theme is clear.  “AS GOD LIVES AND REIGNS, EITHER THIS NATION WILL ABOLISH SLAVERY, OR SLAVERY WILL ABOLISH IT.”

An Unspoken Speech (Julia Ward Howe)

October 25, 1861

Julia Ward Howe, identified here as a correspondent of the New York Tribune, tells of listening to a speech, by someone who, in his speech, describes the state of the war in terms of putting down a rebellion.  Not satisfied, Howe finds a speech “arising” within her, and though it remained unspoken, here it is.  In her “speech” she makes it clear that the war is about ending slavery.  “…look over there down South, at the slave, unjustly bought unjustly sold, unjustly detained from his heritage upon earth….The slave, the slave is your master creditor now; and if the debt of this bondage be not speedily paid, the writ of execution will be put into the stately house of our Northern liberties…”  Then she comments that she would have been glad to have spoken the speech, and to “have taken the consequences of it, whatever they might have been.”

Meeting of Colored Citizens in New Bedford

October 18, 1861

The meeting includes many speeches, urging people to support the war effort of the Union. Anticipating that the Massachusetts legislature will soon remove the word “white” from the militia laws of the state, one resolution adopted tenders service to the Governor for the militia.   (Rev. Mr. Jones was one speaker)

A Fugitive Slave Returned to Slavery by Army

October 11, 1861

The story comes from the New York Tribune; it tells of a fugitive, who swam across the river and came to Camp Holt, by the Falls of the Ohio. “The Union force at the Falls is composed entirely of Kentuckians.”   The soldiers rescued him from the waters, and after inquiry, though he begs not to be returned to his master, the article concludes: “But he will be returned.  As I write, a sergeant and squad have him in their midst, and are marching him back to slavery!”

Memorial of the People to Congress

September 27, 1861

Here is the text of the memorial, addressed to the Congress of the United States.  It includes: “.your honorable body is urgently implored to lose no time in enacting, under the war power, the total abolition of slavery throughout the country - liberating unconditionally the slaves of all who are rebels, and, while not recognizing the right of property in man, allowing for the emancipated slaves of such as are loyal to the government a fair pecuniary award…  and thus to bring the war to a speedy and beneficent termination, and indissolubly to unite all sections and all interests of the country upon the enduring basis of universal freedom.”

The Government Subverting Itself

September 20, 1861

The article first commends the action of Gen. Fremont, “emancipating under martial law all the slaves belonging to the rebel slaveholders in Missouri”.  It then notes that President Lincoln has annulled that act, by making “it conform to the confiscation act adopted by Congress”.  The article then goes on to quote John Quincy Adams who asserts that the President, as “commander of the army, has power to order the universal emancipation of the slaves”…Referring to the “annulling”action of the President, the article says:  “It is time for such folly and fatuity to end.  Either the government must abolish slavery, or the independence of the Southern Confederacy must be recognized. A reunion upon the old basis is alike undesirable and impossible.”